Never Made Movies - No.15 Tim Burton's Johnny Eck

The freak show sure thing that fizzled out before someone shouted 'action!'

In February 2002, news emerged that one of the biggest stars of the day was set to essay one of America’s most celebrated freaks.

And while one assumes he was haunted by memories of his hammy turns as identical twins in The Man In The Iron Mask, Leonardo DiCpario wasn’t a man to let past failure hold him back. So it was is that he would attempt the same trick in a Johnny Eck biopic.

One of the stars of Tod Browning’s notorious Freaks (1932), Eck - real name: Johnny Eckhardt - was born without the lower half of his body. Despite the handicap, Eck, who learned to walk on his hands, forged a career on the freak show circuit with the help of his healthy twin, Robert (above).

Combine the script’s concerns with outsiders and acceptance with writer Caroline Thompson’s work on Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and you’ll understand why many thought it’d be a good fit for Tim Burton at the helm.

Twenty-two years on, DiCaprio and Burton remain in great demand. The Johnny Eck project, however, remains in movie limbo…